I’m sitting here huddled between my warm laptop battery and a giant bathrobe (fun fact: if you put the fuzzy hood up and sit in the dark it can really freak out your family) to try and stay warm. The weather has been even more bipolar than normal- this is Missouri, what else would you expect?- and a winter storm watch keeps popping up every time I try and turn on a mushy Christmas movie.

Winter has settled upon us. Whether you’re sitting by the pool in Miami, trying to find your driveway under the snow in Wisconsin, or hovering slightly above the ground in the middle of nowhere, it’s here…

… and it brought along the perfect time to read (or reread) some of my favorite novels.

(WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK OR GUILTY PLEASURE)

Home for The Holidays (The Mother Daughter Book Club) by Heather Vogel Frederick- If you have read any other of the MDBC books, this one is a must. A great series to read while you’re snowed in with your mom.

Frostbite by Richelle Mead- It’s no secret that I’m a total VA addict. Frostbite is the 2nd book in the series and it packs even more drama and danger than the first one. Don’t say I didn’t warn you when you are in need of some tissues and a hug at the end of this one.

The Last Little Blue Envelope by Maureen Johnson- It has been several months since Ginny went on the life changing trip around Europe (in 13 Little Blue Envelopes) and lost her aunt’s final words to her. Now, a mysterious email sends her back to England over Christmas break. If you were left feeling like you had puppies licking your soul (figuratively… if literal please see a doctor. Now.) by the end of 13 Little Blue Envelopes, the sequel will not disappoint.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens- We have all seen one movie version or another countless times, but what about the original text? Follow Ebenezer Scrooge through his mystical trip with the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future with the story that has been combining ghost stories and holiday magic since 1843. There is a reason that it’s a classic!

Winter’s Child by Cameron Dokey- On a personal note, I’m a total sucker for different takes on fairy-tales and The Snow Queen has always been one of my favorites. On a less personal note, Winter’s Child is a beautiful take on the age old story about a boy, a girl, and a broken mirror.

A man and his monster; a tale that has been terrifying generation after generation… but who are Frankenstein and his monster, and why are they such a big deal? Despite what pop-culture has made the famous being seem like, the creature is neither stupid nor named Frankenstein. The title of the novel actually comes from Victor Frankenstein, the man that figured out how to make life in a lab at a university. After creating the creature- that, for the record, is called that more than it is referred to as a monster- Victor is so horrified at what he created that he runs off and leaves the newly formed life by itself. That is only the beginning of the being’s problems, and those problems would quickly grow into a drab life of hiding and eventually resorting to homicide. Beware, as Frankenstein requires readers to actually pay attention. The point of view changes often between Victor, the creature, and an adventurous man by the name of Walton, so don’t go thinking that this can be skimmed through. However, it would not be the same without these constant changes. There are chapters where the creature is telling about his time away that would be impossible to be told without switching over to his point of view. The same goes for when Walton is on his boat and when Victor is learning about the death of loved ones. There is also an added hint of mystery as readers do not know the exact moment that it is first brought up that the creature was the murderer of the Frankenstein family (this, of course, would be quite less interesting as well as fairly more gruesome if the lonely beast had been telling this portion of the tale). In all honesty I didn’t think I would enjoy this book. I rarely find myself reading anything that even remotely resembles classic novels, let alone the classics themselves. Nonetheless, I quickly found myself wrapped up in Shelley’s frightening story. From the very first page I was intrigued by the mystery on why there was a man named Walton (as, for all I knew, the only characters were Frankenstein and his creature) and how he tied in. The murders caught me by surprise. The creature’s life by himself was an unexpected treat.Overall, Frankenstein is a good book for people that want to read a classic but don’t want it to be centered on romance. There is more than enough death to satisfy even the most extreme Sadist but not so much that a high school student’s mother would call and complain about the assigned reading. There is a pleasant mix of mystery, death, death, more death, and the age old question of what it really means to be human.

*I had to write a review for a school paper a few weeks ago over Frankenstein. I got an A on it, so I figured that if my teachers liked it you might enjoy it as well.